


Downtime

by celtic7irish



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Fluff, Friendship, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-12
Updated: 2017-07-12
Packaged: 2018-12-01 08:44:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,073
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11482788
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/celtic7irish/pseuds/celtic7irish
Summary: Tony was always busy.  Bruce just wants him to take some time for himself.





	Downtime

**Author's Note:**

> For the Science Bros Week 2017 Prompt: Rush

For a genius, Tony was awfully slow at noticing the things going on around him sometimes. Probably because he was always in a rush, racing from one problem to the next without taking any time to slow down and pay attention to the people around him.

 

Bruce could understand that; he’d been very much like that once, too, back before the Incident that resulted in the birth of the Hulk. He’d been in such a rush that he’d tried an untested procedure on himself with only minimal data.  It was his own fault, and he couldn’t blame the army for that.  He’d been so certain, so very sure of himself, that he’d allowed himself to rush through the theory and gone straight to the practical application.

 

So it wasn’t surprising that he recognized it when Tony did the same thing, running from an SI meeting to the next Avengers battle to the lab to work on weapon upgrades, then onto a lunch date with Pepper or a night out with Rhodes.   He was running himself ragged, and Bruce was growing increasingly worried for his friend.

 

Tony, of course, seemed oblivious to the worried looks that the rest of the team was shooting him. Bruce knew it was bad when _Steve_ approached him and asked him if Tony was okay.  He supposed that it was up to him to do something about it, since nobody else seemed able or willing.

 

He started with JARVIS, working with the AI to determine where Tony might have gaps in his schedule – rarely – and how to get the man to take some time for himself. It wasn’t going to be easy, but Bruce was determined not to see his friend run himself into the ground, even if that meant cheating.

 

After determining that it would be better to start small, Bruce made minor changes in his own day that directly impacted Tony’s work. He set alarms for himself for meals, and when he ate, he brought a plate down to Tony.  Dummy greeted him enthusiastically once Bruce gave the bot his word that he wasn’t trying to replace the bot’s function as feeder of Stark, and Tony would usually eat anything that was set on the worktable.  Bruce checked with JARVIS that Dummy wasn’t giving his creator anything toxic, and the AI assured him that Dummy was closely monitored when he made smoothies. They might not always be tasty, but they were at least edible.

 

JARVIS also tended to turn down Tony’s music when Bruce was in the workshop, so Bruce started going there in the evenings, curling up on the worn, comfortable couch kept off to the side of Tony’s work space, for those rare nights when the engineer actually managed to fall into an exhausted sleep without actually making it to his bed. Tony never asked JARVIS to turn up the music when Bruce was in the room, nor did he seem annoyed by Bruce’s presence.  Instead, the other man would oftentimes talk to Bruce about whatever it was he was working on.  Sometimes Bruce was able to understand enough to ask intelligent questions; other times, he was pretty much just a sounding board, making an occasional noise of agreement while Tony rattled off numbers and theories and anecdotes with unbridled enthusiasm.

 

Eventually, though, he’d start to lag, his head dropping until it was pillowed on his arms. At that point, Bruce would urge the sleepy genius to his feet and stagger them over towards the couch, settling him in and dropping a blanket over him before seeking out his own bed.

 

Dealing with SHIELD was a bit harder, as Bruce had no desire to get anywhere near the shady organization. He still hadn’t forgiven them for tracking him, if he was honest – even if knowing that somebody had his back was a bit reassuring.  JARVIS was incredibly accommodating, however, and it was only a matter of hours before Bruce had a list of projects that Tony was working on for SHIELD.  He was pretty sure some of it was just Fury seeing if he could make the son of Howard Stark jump, while some of it was probably necessary.

 

Having confirmed his hypothesis, Bruce approached Steve. As their leader, it was the Captain’s job to make sure that all of his people were healthy and well-rested – or as well-rested as a couple of paranoid spies, a genius engineer, an Asgardian warrior prince, and an angry biophysicist ever actually got – and Bruce was well aware of how much sway the other man held in the SHIELD hierarchy, even if he seemed oblivious to it.

 

When he brought his concerns to Steve, the Captain took one look at the evidence (and didn’t even ask how Bruce had gotten hold of the information), did an about-face, and left the building. A couple of hours later, Tony was on a call with Nick Fury in one of his rarely used conference rooms.  Bruce had no idea what they discussed, but when Tony left the conference room, he seemed a little bit confused and a lot pissed off.  He disappeared into his workshop and locked it down, leaving Bruce with nothing to do but wait him out, wondering if his plan had backfired.

 

“JARVIS?” he asked nearly eleven hours later, when there was still no sign of Tony.

 

 _“Yes, Doctor Banner?”_ the AI asked politely.

 

Bruce paused for a moment, then took a small breath. “Is Tony still in his workshop?” he asked.

 

 _“I’m sorry, Doctor Banner,”_ JARVIS replied.  _“Sir left the building seven hours and fourteen minutes ago. Destination is classified,”_ he added before Bruce could ask for the other man’s location.

 

Bruce sighed. Dammit.  “Thanks, JARVIS,” he said.  “Am I allowed into Tony’s workshop when he’s not there?”  Maybe there was something there that would at least give him some idea of where his friend might have run off to.  Because when Tony left directly from his workshop, that usually mean he’d left in the Iron Man armor, rather than via car.

 

 _“You are welcome, Doctor Banner,”_ JARVIS answered him.  “ _You have been granted unrestricted access to Sir’s workshop.”_

 

Bruce just shook his head; he still couldn’t believe that Tony trusted him so unconditionally. He’d trusted both of them – Bruce and the Hulk – from the very beginning, even with Loki’s scepter messing with their heads.  Bruce was pretty sure that part of it was just Tony’s way of rebelling against the perceived disapproval of Captain America, but the end result was the same.  Bruce was determined to never give Tony a reason to regret that trust.

 

Slipping into the lab, Bruce greeted the bots with a quiet murmur when they lifted their heads curiously. They were currently plugged into their charging stations, so Bruce wandered further into the workshop, taking in half-finished projects, empty plates and coffee mugs, and scattered tools.  There was a holo-image of Clint’s bow floating idly in the center of the room, broken down to its component parts.  Apparently Barton was due for an upgrade.

 

He didn’t touch anything as he wandered through the room. Tony’s workshop was like his sacred space, just as Bruce’s lab was his.  Instead, he wandered over to the Keurig that Tony kept in the shop and prepared a cup of tea.  He generally preferred to prepare his own with a proper teapot, but this would work in a pinch.

 

Wandering over to the well-worn couch, he pulled the afghan off the back and settled down. He picked up the book on astrology he’d been reading for entertainment and curled up to read until Tony returned.  It was nice to be able to stay in one place long enough to be able to learn about anything that he wanted to, rather than focusing only on what he had to in order to survive.  And Tony had an extensive library.  Actually, he had three libraries that Bruce had discovered so far, and he suspected that JARVIS could tell him if there were more.  But he never asked; stumbling across them was part of the fun.

 

He wasn’t sure how long he sat there, but when he finally dozed off, Tony still hadn’t returned, though JARVIS had promised to wake him when the other man got back.

 

He wasn’t sure how long he’d been asleep when he heard the low roar of repulsors as Tony returned. He sat up with a yawn, stretching as JARVIS turned up the lights.  Tony clunked down, the face mask lifting up as he raised his eyebrows at Bruce.  “Brucie-bear, what brings you to my lair?” he asked as his suit retracted from his body.  He didn’t sound angry, so Bruce figured that whatever he’d been out doing, it had given him time to work off any residual anger from his conversation with Fury.

 

Bruce shrugged. “Waiting for you.”  He glanced around for a clock, then shrugged, feeling a bit sheepish.  “I guess I fell asleep,” he muttered.

 

Tony chuckled, moving around to the front of the couch. Bruce pulled his legs up, and Tony flopped down onto the open space with a long, drawn-out sigh, his legs thrown out in front of him, crossed at the ankles.  “Can’t say I blame you,” he replied after a moment, picking up the thread of their conversation.  “I mean, it’s been kind of crazy around here, in case you hadn’t noticed.”  He glanced sideways at Bruce, who just nodded; Tony hadn’t been the only one with a tightly packed schedule recently; the others just handled their downtime better.  “Speaking of crazy, how’s that project of yours going?” 

 

Bruce blinked at him. “Project?” he asked, confused.  “Which one?”  He had several different experiments going on right now, but none of them were particularly urgent or time consuming.

 

Tony quirked an eyebrow at him. “The Tony-needs-some-downtime project,” he said bluntly, his tone amused.  Bruce winced; he knew?  Tony chuckled, his knee shifting to press lightly against Bruce’s foot where it rested on the couch.  “Not that I’m complaining, but really, you could’ve just told me.”

 

Bruce peered over at him. He didn’t seem upset, but… “Are you angry?” he asked curiously.  He really hoped not, but he wouldn’t blame Tony if he was.  He probably shouldn’t have interfered in the first place.

 

“Nah,” Tony shook his head. “I mean, sure, when Fury told me that he was cutting me from half a dozen projects, I was a bit pissed, but none of them are things that SHIELD R&D can’t handle.  I just don’t like being told that I can’t do something.”  And wasn’t that the damn truth?

 

“I’m still sorry I interfered,” Bruce sighed.

 

Tony shrugged, but he was perfectly serious when he asked, “Sorry you interfered? Or sorry you were caught?”

 

Bruce winced, but gave an honest reply. “I’m not sorry that I interfered, but I am sorry for not discussing it with you first.”

 

Tony nodded. Grinned.  Flopped over onto his side so that his head was in Bruce’s lap.  “You should be sorry,” he agreed.  “Very sorry.  In fact, you should seriously think about how you’re going to make this up to me.”   He was outright smirking now, and Bruce felt his stomach sink.  He didn’t know what he’d just gotten himself into, but he was pretty sure he’d do it, anyhow. 

 

“And how do you suggest I do that?” he asked, smiling down at his friend.

 

Tony pretended to think about that for a moment. “Well,” he started, “since I suddenly seem to have a bit of free time, I was planning to tinker around with one of my cars.  Perhaps the roadster.”

 

Bruce pulled a face; he had no interest in restoring antique calls. As far as he was concerned, if it didn’t run, it was scrap.  “Sure you don’t want to, say, get some sleep?” he suggested hopefully.

 

Tony grinned. “Nope,” he said cheerfully.  “I just spent the last twelve hours at SHIELD Headquarters and SI so that I’d have about twenty-four hours of free time.  I’ll sleep later.  Maybe.”

 

Bruce just sighed. And to think, all he’d wanted was for Tony to slow down a bit and not overwork himself.  He supposed he had nobody but himself to blame for this now.  “All right,” he agreed.  “Car, then food, then sleep.  I might not know what I’m doing, but I can hand you tools.”

 

“Yeah?” Tony asked, smiling.

 

Bruce smiled back. “Yeah.”


End file.
